Hungary’s new constitution seen as threat to democracy

Viktor Orban, Hungarian prime minister

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BUDAPEST — Karoly Meszaros is a Budapest taxi driver who always voted socialist until he heard some leftist lawmakers talking about stealing money from the public, as he drove them to parliament one day.

“They talked about money in such a stomach-churning way that I stopped voting for them,” he said.

Like the majority of Hungarians, Mr. Meszaros voted for the conservative nationalists two years ago and helped Viktor Orban’s Fidesz Party gain power with a massive two-thirds majority in parliament. Now, like a growing number of Hungarians, he regrets his vote.

“These new guys in power are no better,” he said.

Hungary, once seen as the Iron Curtain country with the greatest promise of adopting a Western-style democracy, is now in political turmoil.

Thousands are marching in the streets and accusing the government of violating their rights. Western allies, including the United States, are complaining about a constitution that critics say undercuts fundamental democratic principles, and the European Union is upset with the government’s taxes on eurozone banks. The constitution took effect Jan. 1.

On Tuesday, the European Commission launched legal challenges against the constitution amid concerns that the former Soviet-bloc country is slipping back into authoritarianism.

“Hungary is a key member of the European family, and we do not want a shadow of a doubt on the respect for democratic principles and values,” commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters in Strasbourg. “The quicker that this is resolved, the better.”

Despite the political upheaval, Fidesz - a Hungarian acronym for the Alliance of Young Democrats - remains the most popular political party, according to opinion polls.

“Orban, in my view, is one of the most experienced politicians around, with a more than 20-year background in politics,” said accountant Ferenc Kiss.

“Hungarians complain a lot instead of looking around and observing that there are countries much worse off than us,” he added.

Fidesz leaders say the 2010 election gave the party a mandate to draw up a new constitution.

“If you read the constitution, you will find that it is has all the checks and balances,” said Jozsef Szajer, a senior Fidesz member of parliament and one of the authors of the national charter.

“If you say that Hungary is going to a dictatorship, you have to prove it. People who have never read the constitution are labeling Viktor Orban the Putin of the Puszta,” he said, referring to a nickname for the premier common in the German media.

Mr. Orban, at age 26, was one of the heroes of the 1989 revolution, when Hungarians threw off Soviet domination. A fiery speech by the young lawyer helped bring down communism, and Hungary became the second East European country, after Poland, to elect a democratic government.

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